Witsie weddings

PHOTOS: CHRISTIAAN DAVID PHOTOGRAPHY

A power couple since their schooldays are Nicolé van der Merwe and Hugo Maré, who fell in love at Marais Viljoen High School and remained together through their university years.

“I was completing my BSc and Honours, Hugo was completing his LLB (2014). We were very involved in each other’s studies. I would attend LLB lectures when I had time and Hugo would do the same with science. During my Honours year he even had the opportunity to visit the lab, with the supervisors’ permission of course. We drove to varsity together, worked together during the day and went home together,” saysNicolé (BSc 2012, BSc Hons 2013, LLB 2016).

She says they spent “many, many hours in the Commerce Library and the William Cullen Library”, as well as study and brainstorming sessions at Olives and Plates – “the best food and cake on campus”.

It’s no wonder they had their engagement photo shoot on campus, “at all our iconic and memorable spots at Wits”. The couple, who will be married in August, took pictures in the romantic garden setting of the Wits Club, went on to the Tower of Light – cue memories of hours spent in the law clinic – and of course revisited the Great Hall, scene of all those graduation high points.

“Wits is close to our heart, and will always remain so,” says Nicolé. “The foundations of our careers were built there. Our dedication to success and our love for one another grew stronger year after year. We truly are proud Witsies.”

“Our dedication to success and our love for one another grew stronger year after year. We truly are proud Witsies.”

Nicolé and Hugo chose all the iconic Wits places for their engagement photo shoot.

A blind date at the Wits Art Museum coffee shop was how Cuan Humphries (BA 2015, BA Hons 2016) and Brett Pepper (BA 2012, BA Hons 2013, MA 2015) first met.

The couple initially didn’t think they’d take their relationship beyond that first date, but four years later are still happy they said yes to the lunchtime set-up a mutual friend had arranged. It helped that the second date was a comedy show, where the pressure was off.

Something of a challenge was the fact that Brett was doing his Master’s and was under more academic pressure than second-year Cuan when they met. On the other hand, they were in the same age group, both heading for postgraduate degrees, and they shared an interest in psychology. It was also helpful, Cuan says, that Wits was less conservative than some other environments, allowing gay couples to feel more comfortable.

“A relationship that starts at Wits has a good foundation because you’re both invested in the opportunity to further your education and you’re part of a community,” Cuan says.

He is now working in market research, and Brett has his own clinical psychology practice.

Roshen Pahaladh (BSc 2007, PDM 2010, MBA 2016) and Dr Veneshree Padayachee (MBBCh 2010) met in their first year at Wits, 2004, and have been inseparable ever since. Spending a lot of time together on campus “provided the solid foundation required in building our long-lasting relationship and allowed our love for each other to blossom,” says Veneshree.

They married in January 2015 and “thought it only fitting to allow Wits to be a part of our special day, as it brightened our future by allowing us to meet each other”. After a wet wedding day, a rainbow put in an appearance over the Great Hall in time for the photos.

Veneshree says: “Our time at Wits is filled with great memories of all the fun and difficult experiences we endured while building our careers through our studies as well as our relationship. I qualified from Wits as a medical doctor in 2010, and subsequently specialised through Wits in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Roshen has three degrees from Wits.” She jokes: “I think he was trying to find someone new and then decided to settle with me.”

Two years later, “we are definitely planning a few other proud Witsies to be.”

Jack MacDiarmid and Bailey Cockerill were introduced by a friend who played hockey at Wits with Bailey. Jack is an Australian who studied mining and finance at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. He came to South Africa in 2010 to watch the Soccer World Cup and has yet to leave. He is completing a parttime MSc (Mineral Economics) at Wits while working for Anglo American.

The couple chose Olives and Plates as their wedding venue “to show off this great city to the 40 Aussie visitors we had. We were completely blown away with the setting, food and service and couldn’t have asked for a better day and venue. The Aussies were amazed with everything South Africa had to offer,” says Jack.

“To this day, we still have people commenting about how special it was,” adds Bailey.

She did a BSc in Human Movement Studies & Physiology at Wits and now has her own biokinetics practice within a multidisciplinary wellness centre in Blairgowrie.